Together, Forever
by UltimateLolipopNinja
Summary: One of my favorite endings. But there has to be something bad about it that makes others hate it, right? Just a little teensy thing about how they don't remember... or do they?


_**Together, Forever.**_

**Even though I really love the together forever ending, there's just something about it that irks me. I don't know what it is. **

The two girls were riding home in a car with their parents. "Did you two enjoy the trip to the gallery?" Their mother turned from the passenger seat to look at her daughters. "Ib, you seemed very interested in the Fabricated World." The girl with brown hair looked from the window to her mother.

"Yes.. It was very pretty." She answered in a monotonous voice.

"Aw, come on Ib!" Her blond sister said. "It was more than pretty! It was so amazing! It was almost like you could jump into the painting!" She giggled. Ib smiled faintly and nodded.

"I want to jump into it, then..." Ib said, warning another giggle from Mary.

"Oh, you girls. Always so imaginative." Their mother smiled softly at them.

"We're home!" Ib and Mary's father called out. The family got out from the car. The sisters walked upstairs to the room that they shared. Upon entering, Mary looked at Ib with a confused look.

"Ib, do you have something in your pocket or am I just going crazy?" She gestured to Ib's skirt pocket. She was right, there was a small bump in the pocket. Ib reached in and took out a piece of lemon-flavored candy.

"Huh..? Candy? But how'd it get here...?" Ib wondered aloud.

"Waah! Candy! Gimme gimme!" Mary reached for the candy in Ib's hand.

"H-hey, Mary, wait a second.." Ib tried to stop Mary from taking her candy, but to no avail. Mary snatched it from her, and unwrapped it.

"Oh.. sorry.. D-did you want it?" Mary asked. Ib shook her head.

"No, it's fine. You can have it." She said, sounding defeated.

"Yay! Thanks Ib!" The blond girl giggled and ate the candy. 'But how could it have gotten in my pocket? I don't remember a thing...' Ib thought as she watched her sister happily munch the yellow candy. 'It must have just been a treat from a while ago.' She reasoned, removing the thought from her head. "Mmm~ yummy!~ Thanks again Ib!" Mary giggled. "So, what do you wanna do now?" She asked, looking at her sister. She shrugged.

"Anything you want to do." Ib replied.

"Oh, okay.." The blond sister thought for a moment. "Let's draw and color! Hehe~!" She suggested. Ib nodded. The two girls took out their sketchbooks and crayons and started drawing. Mary started drawing a picture of herself and Ib in a garden full of red and yellow roses. Ib also drew herself and her sister, but a man was standing in between them. He had light lavender-grey hair and periwinkle eyes. He wore a tattered jacked over a green shirt, with brown pants. "Huh? Ib? Who's that?" Mary looked over at Ib's drawing and pointed at the tall man.

"I.. I don't know." Ib shrugged her shoulders.

"He looks kinda familiar, doesn't he?" Mary asked.

"I guess so.. But I can't remember where he's from." Ib shook her head. "But nevermind that. What did you draw? Is that us?" Ib quickly changed the subject.

"Hehe yep! Sure is~! And see? We have roses! Mummy told me about the rose sculpture and how the rose in my heart was yellow, and yours is red!" Mary giggled.

"I wonder what this man's would be.." Ib said quietly.

"I bet his would be blue!"

"Blue?"

"Yep, blue!~ I have a yellow rose, Ib has a red rose, and he has a blue rose!~" Mary sang. A picture flashed in Ib's mind. It was of herself, putting a rose in a vase. All the pain she felt was gone. "...Ib? You alright?" Mary said, concerned. Ib had made a small gasping noise.

"Y-yeah.. I'm fine. Just spaced out for a second." Ib reassured Mary.

"Well, if you say so.." She shrugged and went back to drawing. Ib didn't. Ib couldn't forget the image she had seen. It seemed so familiar.. But what could it be? The rose, the vase.. What did it mean?

"Mary.." Ib said slowly. "Do you remember anything from the gallery?" She asked cautiously.

"Well of course I do! It was so much fun!" Mary giggled. "I especially liked the Lady in Red and Death of the Individual! It was almost as if they could start moving and were real, y'know?" She grinned. "And the Ladies looked like they could jump out of their frames!" Ib stared at Mary, listening intently. Ladies...? But there was only one painting of a lady at the gallery..

"Mary, there was only one lady at the gallery." Ib faltered. She felt like she was forgetting something. Something important. She couldn't place her finger on it, but it was driving her mad. She had to remember. She just HAD to.

"Oh, I didn't mean the paintings. I meant the statues too!~" Mary explained cheerily.

"Oh... Right." Ib decided to dismiss the thought and returned to coloring.

•Later•

Ib lay in bed, wide awake. Mary lied in the bed across the room, sound asleep. But something was bugging Ib. That man she drew earlier, Mary mentioning the Ladies, the roses... It all had to mean something. Ib had to find out what it is. She just had to remember. 'Come on, Ib. Remember.' She thought to herself, shutting her eyes tight. Thinking back to the gallery, she rolled onto her side. What happened today? She couldn't remember how it started. 'Mum and Dad took me to a gallery to see works by Guertena.' Ib began to recall the events of the day whilst staring at the wall. 'I looked around for quite awhile on my own. I went upstairs and saw a pretty painting called...' Ib's mind went blank. What was the painting called again? Something.. _Something_ World. She couldn't remember what it was. 'What happened after that? Come on.. Remember!' Ib stared hard at the wall. And then...

Then it hit her.

After she saw the _Something_ World, the lights went dark. There was writing on the wall telling her to go downstairs. She jumped through the abyss into the terrifying world. It came back to her in a rush of memories. The man she drew earlier...! He was in that world, too! He was so kind to Ib, and always protected her. What was his name again..? Garry! Garry, yes, that was it! He even found Mary wi- Mary. Mary was in the world, too. Ib's breath caught in her throat. She cautiously turned to look at her sleeping sister.

Mary...

Wasn't her real sister. Mary wasn't a real person. She was just a painting.. Ib remembered. She remembered how Mary attacked Garry. Finding out about how Mary didn't exist. Mary chased them around with a palette knife. Mary stole Ib's rose and then traded Garry's for it. Ib was remembering it all too well. How Mary continuously plucked the rose petals from the stem, until Garry was so hurt he couldn't get up. He's probably still sleeping back in that stupid cursed world.. Why didn't Ib destroy the painting of Mary while she could? She buried her face in the pillow. Mary.. Isn't her sister.. She killed her friend from the gallery. The friend who did so much to protect her, even give his own life. Gone. A tear silently rolled down Ib's cheek as she glanced over to Mary's bed once more. Wh... Where did she go?

Mary wasn't lying in bed anymore.

Ib's heart skipped a beat. She turned to look up. There Mary was, standing in front of her.

"Seems as though you've finally remembered the truth." Mary spoke in a flat tone. "But we can't have that, can we?" She raised her palette knife above Ib's chest. "I guess it's time for you to join Garry. You miss him, don't you?" Mary swung the knife down.

Ib barely had time to scream.


End file.
